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[faceplate]

Who: faceplate & YOU
When: IC 11/6, OOC 24/3
Where: Mostly ViVID
What: Zer0 is terrible. Time to make friends!
Rating/Warning: Violence, probably.

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[ you spy with your little eye someone who isn't being quite as stealthy as they think they are. a tall, dark figure (maybe handsome?? we just don't know), loitering in alleyways, behind buildings, up on rooftops... it's hecka creepy. if you approach fast enough, zero doesn't run away!

and sometimes, they even initiate conversation., with things like, ] Wanna go kill stuff?

[ ...yep. ]

(( ooc: closed starters below! ))

Comments

[roughcut]

[As it so happens, Kouha is just standing around by those (very nice) curtains, too. He had been waiting for his moment to approach the king and finally grab the reward for this overly-long quest, when someone snatches it away before he gets his chance. Unfair!]

No way! Hey, that kill was supposed to me mine!

[He can't see whoever did it, but he gets the feeling they're hanging around. There's no convenient way out, so the killer can't have run off that quickly.

Unfortunately, yelling like that just gets the attention drawn to both of them. Uh-oh. Maybe hanging out next to a wall was a bad idea.]

[faceplate]

[ zero feels a quick moment of satisfaction, because haha, they got it first. a second after they tamp down the reaction and focus on escaping—a more difficult task when people are looking at them.

zero doesn't waste any time when the guards start moving towards them. they slide out from behind the curtains, materialized now since their cloak has run out, and does their best to dart by. if the other person gets left behind, too bad! ]

[roughcut]

[Like hell is he going to hang around and be left the only target! Luckily, Kouha's been ready to move for the past few minutes, though it was for a different reason. He picks up speed immediately, following after Zero.]

Wait up! This is your fault, so don't run off like a coward!

[faceplate]

[ zero keeps moving, ignoring someone shouting behind them until they've got a slight lead on at least the guards. then they turn just long enough to shoot kouha a :P before they continue, darting between pillars and down the stairs, onto the wide and street outside the palace. ]

[roughcut]

[Rude as hell, wow. Kouha would stick his tongue out right back, but doing that while running is a good way to accidentally bite it off. Instead, he decides to settle for catching up.

Rather than running down the stairs, he just jumps them entirely. It's not a super smart move, and his legs will suffer for it later, but it does allow him to land close enough to Zero before they get separated in the crowd. He moves to grab Zero by the arm, and whether that stops him or not, he's not going to let go easily.]

[faceplate]

[ so maybe running was a mistake. zero doesn't make any noise as they're grabbed, but they're caught, steps stumbling. immediately they pull hard in an attempt to break kouha's grip. ]

Let go.

[ the hilt in their hand hums and extends the same blade as before—still a little blood-stained. ]

[roughcut]

[Kouha's free hand lifts casually, almost like he's stretching, before it lands on the handle of the sword strapped to his back. His grip on Zero doesn't break, though he is forced to step forward to keep it.]

You caused this mess. You're gonna have to either take me along or I'll be your personal deadweight, okay?

[He smiles, but there's no friendliness in it. He's pretty pissed off.]

[faceplate]

[ zero is tempted, awfully tempted, to just cut the other guy's hand off at the wrist with their sword. but they don't have time—and since it's a game, they'll probably hold a grudge even later, outside the game. ]

Fine.

[ zero tugs impatiently, ready to get going again. ]

[roughcut]

Great!

[And with that, Kouha instantly relaxes into a smile and loosens his grip. It's less choking now, so they can run without cutting off Zero's bloodflow.

Kouha moves as soon as he's directed to, following along at a decent clip, despite his shorter legs. He's no athlete by choice, but for a short while, he can manage.]

[faceplate]

[ good. time to get the heck out of dodge! zero keeps up a quick, almost punishing pace, in order to outstrip their pursuers. if kouha seems to lag behind, zero just pulls more insistently. ]

[roughcut]

[Tugging is rude!! Kouha makes a face when it inevitably happens, but beyond some slight noises of annoyance, he doesn't otherwise complain. When he starts to feel tired, he chances a glance back to see if they're still being followed.

--And they so are, uh oh. They're going to have to get a little more creative than this.]

Hey, they're still behind us! We gotta find someplace better to hide or lose 'em, 'cause this isn't working.

[faceplate]

[ zero grunts—almost growls—because they could run faster without a tagalong, geez. but since they don't seem to have any other choice, they half turn to solve the problem.

their approach is to throw a smoke-generating object at the feet of their pursuers. being AI, and not particularly good AI at that, they're thrown off long enough for zero and kouha to run another street or so and hide inside a building. ]

[roughcut]

[Whoa. Kouha wasn't expecting a smoke screen, but after a short noise of surprise, he shuts up again and follows Zero along. Once they get close enough to a seemingly-abandoned building (because they have to exist, it's a video game), Kouha changes direction and heads right for the door.]

This one looks good enough. You coming in?

[faceplate]

[ zero doesn't hesitate before nodding. they slide in after kouha, shut the door tight behind them, and start going up instead of staying put.

parkour may be incoming. ]

[roughcut]

[Going up?? Kouha's not sure how smart of an idea that is, considering how easy it is to get trapped up there if they're followed inside, but he still follows after Zero.

(If Zero jumps out a window or off the roof, Kouha may just have to scream.)]

[faceplate]

[ zero paces for a moment, looking out windows to figure out which way out is the best. they pick out a route.

it involves a lot of jumping.

they look back at kouha, but only briefly, then step up onto the windowsill before smoothly jumping down and across to the nearest roof. ]

[roughcut]

Seriously!?

[Rude af, Zero. He should have known this is what was going to happen, but he apparently had too much faith in a stranger!!

He curses under his breath, trying to figure out how to get across. There's no way he's making it on his strength alone (his legs are way too short and skinny to jump that far, even without having run for blocks to get here), so he'll have to cheat a bit.

If Zero's watching, they'll get to see a pink, sparkly transformation sequence centered on Kouha's legs, which are suddenly covered in gemstones growing out of his skin. With this, he can jump (or, more accurately, fly) over to the next rooftop.]

[faceplate]

[ HAHA get on their level kouha! zero's in a hurry! they're jogging across the rooftop—pretty slowly, given their usual pace—but they glance back, only to see the end of the transformation and the resulting gemstones.

a source of power? or a sign of power?

zero keeps running. they can't fly, but they can move fast, which is enough to get away from their pursuers. ]

[roughcut]

[It's flying, technically, but Kouha does keep touching down on the rooftops every so often, just to conserve energy. It looks like a ridiculous level of hop-scotch, but if it works, it works, right?]

Man, do you ever run out of energy!? Are you some kind of robot or something?

[The speed Kouha can mostly keep up with, but the never-ending stamina is something else. It's impressive, but Kouha doesn't want to phrase it that way when it's putting him out.]

[faceplate]

[ well, zer0's probably not a robot. they'll run out of stamina eventually. still, they manage to keep their speed up until they're well out of range of their pursuers. then zer0 ducks behind a structure so that they're also out of sight, and takes a break while peering around for any sign of other danger. ]